Stories tagged 'cancer care'

A Fred Hutch researcher speaks out on the human cost of the ‘unfettered, unbridled greed’ within our health care system

Feb. 11, 2016
| By Dr. Gary Lyman, as told to Diane Mapes

As an oncologist, I've had patients delay or actually stop treatment because of the high cost. They're stopping and they're dying as a result. That's why I've taken a stand with many of my colleagues around the country to call attention to these pricing issues and how unsustainable and devastating they are to our patients.

Cancer patients were quick to praise a scathing report from the country’s leading oncologists decrying the skyrocketing cost of cancer drugs. “[The report] is definitely a validation that these medications are ridiculously expensive,” said Erin Havel, a 38-year-old chronic myeloid leukemia patient from Seattle who had to declare bankruptcy due to the high cost of her cancer drugs. “Patients don’t really have much say. We should. We’re the consumers, but we’re more of a vehicle for companies to raise money. It feels like we’re a cash cow for Big Pharma.”